10 Historical Figures Who Should Have Their Own TV Shows

Between FX’s newly announced Rasputin miniseries and CW’s dubiously accurate Reign, we’re in the middle of a mini-boom for historical TV. More specifically, there’s a mini-trend of series based on specific historical figures, plus whatever questionably accurate story lines a room full of writers wants to tack onto their biographies. Sounds like a winning combination to us! So we went ahead and brainstormed a few more real-life men and women who have the makings of a good show in ‘em. Here they are, from vicious Mongolian warlords to mysterious plane-jackers.

Genghis Khan

Television’s current massive-scale story of conquest, empire-building, and violence aplenty is a) a fantasy series and b) pretty awful when it comes to handling its only nonwhite racial group, a tribe of horse riders with very loose corollaries to the real-life Mongols. So why not give Genghis Khan his own epic series? It’d be like Game of Thrones, with the added bonus of being real, rife with more opportunities for sex and gore than ever, and most refreshingly, centered on a non-white cast of main characters. It’d cost a fortune, of course, but if Game of Thrones proves anything it’s that insanely expensive shows pay off if the money’s spent well.